State’s Attorney Dan Wright a candidate for judge | News
Sangamon County State’s attorney Dan Wright is among seven candidates vying to be appointed to an associate circuit judge vacancy created by the July 23 death of Matthew Mauer.
And former State’s attorney John Milhiser, Wright’s former boss when Wright was an assistant state’s attorney, is now working for Wright as an assistant state’s attorney handling felony cases, according to county records.
Wright’s name appeared in results of an advisory poll of lawyers in the 7th Judicial Circuit who were asked to evaluate all seven candidates on characteristics ranging from integrity and temperament to overall suitability for being a judge.
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PHOTO BY BRANDON TURLEY
Sangamon County State’s attorney Dan Wright
The results were released Sept. 29 on the website of the Illinois State Bar Association, which conducted the poll.
Milhiser, 53, returned to the State’s attorney’s Office on July 10, and is being paid $75,000 per year as a part-time employee, according to county records.
Wright received approval from the Sangamon County Board’s finance and court services committees in April to fill the vacant position that Milhiser was hired to fill.
Wright declined comment on his interest in the associate circuit judge position and Milhiser’s hiring. Milhiser couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
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PHOTO COURTESY JOHN MILHISER
Former Sangamon County state’s attorney John Milhiser
Mauer, 62, previously worked as an assistant state’s attorney, then in private practice, and as a felony public defender before being appointed as an associate judge in 2013.
Mauer had been a quadriplegic since an accident at age 13 and was a graduate of Griffin High School, the former Sangamon State University and the University of Illinois College of Law.
The 7th Circuit’s six circuit judges will vote on Mauer’s replacement and are expected to announce their decision in the next few weeks, Ryan Cadagin, Sangamon County’s presiding circuit judge, told Illinois Times. In addition to Sangamon, the circuit includes the counties of Greene, Jersey, Macoupin, Morgan and Scott.
Associate circuit judges are appointed to four-year terms, and there’s no limit to the number of times they can be appointed.
Associate judges are paid $222,661 annually. Circuit judges are paid $234,380, and the Sangamon County’s state’s attorney is paid $197,436.
The voluntary ISBA poll was sent to all ISBA members who practice or reside in the circuit. Results of the poll aren’t binding on the circuit judges in their decision to fill Mauer’s position.
Wright’s ratings were based on 144 responses, the highest number received for any of the seven candidates.
Though results were close in some categories, Wright placed sixth out of the six candidates who received ratings when it came to integrity, impartiality, temperament and sensitivity. He ranked third on legal ability and health, fourth on meeting the requirements of the office, and fifth on court management.
The other candidates were Andrew Affrunti, Rex Gradeless, Kateah McMasters, Lorelei Nickols, Abby Sgro and Ali Mikels. There were an insufficient number of respondents for Mikels’ ratings to be valid, so they weren’t listed, the ISBA said.
Milhiser was first hired as an assistant state’s attorney in Sangamon County in 1997 and entered private practice in 2003. He returned to the office in 2008 as the first assistant state’s attorney, or the office’s second in command.
Milhiser, a Republican, was appointed state’s attorney in 2010 when former State’s attorney John Schmidt, also a Republican, was appointed a circuit judge. Schmidt, who later became an appellate judge, died in 2017 at age 52.
Milhiser was elected state’s attorney in 2012, defeating Democrat Ron Stradt, and was reelected in 2016 before being appointed U.S. attorney for the Central District of Illinois in 2018. His appointment by former President Donald Trump, a Republican, was affirmed by the U.S. Senate in January 2019.
Milhiser resigned in February 2021 after Joe Biden, a Democrat, defeated Trump in the November 2020 presidential election.
Milhiser ran in the GOP primary for Illinois secretary of state in June 2022, losing to former state Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington, who later lost to former state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, a Democrat.
Milhiser’s wife, Gail Noll, is a Sangamon County circuit judge. To avoid a potential conflict of interest while her husband works for the State’s attorney’s Office, Noll has recused herself from handling all future felony cases, and current felony cases on her docket have been reassigned to other judges, Cadagin said.
Wright, 44, a Republican, worked in the State’s attorney’s Office for two years, including as first assistant, before being appointed state’s attorney when Milhiser was appointed U.S. attorney.
Wright won a four-year term as state’s attorney in 2020, defeating Democratic challenger Mike Drake by 18 percentage points.
Filing by candidates who want to run in the Republican and Democratic primaries for state’s attorney begins Nov. 27 and continues through Dec. 4. The primary will be March 19, and the general election will be Nov. 5, 2024.
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